Great Britain: Fading Farthing

By an act of government, Britons last
week spent their last farthing. When it was first minted back in 1279,
a farthing could buy a whole chicken or a pound of beef. Its name dates
even earlier, to the days when pennies were marked with a cross so that
shoppers could divide them into fourthsor farthings. But its buying
power has steadily dwindled, and by 1900 the farthing was already a
children's coin good only for a single sourball or a few winkles
(non-U shellfish) at the seaside.